military technology
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North Korea’s 2017 Nuclear Test Estimated To Be 16 Times Stronger Than The Bomb Dropped On Hiroshima
An updated estimate shows the September 2017 nuclear test by North Korea was equivalent to 250 kilotons of TNT—an explosive yield 16 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War. The explosion was also an order of magnitude stronger than the country’s previous five tests.
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Here’s The Official Plan To Create The US Space Force
Speaking at the Pentagon yesterday, Vice President Mike Pence outlined the official plan to create the US Space Force, the first new branch of the military in more than 70 years.
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AI Could Dramatically Increase Risk Of Nuclear War By 2040, Says New Report
The common conception of a technologically enabled apocalypse foresees a powerful artificial intelligence that, either deliberately or by accident, destroys human civilisation. But as a new report from the RAND Corporation points out, the reality may be far subtler: As AI slowly erodes the foundations that made the Cold War possible, we may find ourselves…
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US Air Force Wants To Put Lasers On Fighter Jets By 2021, Bringing Us One Step Closer To Star Wars
The US Air Force’s scientific research wing is giving Lockheed Martin $US26.3 million ($34.3 million) “for the design, development, and production of a high power fibre laser” which it expects to start testing on a tactical fighter jet in four years. Sounds cool and certainly futuristic, but the jury’s still out on whether these weapons…